Small pets such as dogs or cats require daily feeding. Typically a pet owner will dispense the pet food into a bowl each time the pet is fed. This is a daily chore which can be burdensome. In addition, a pet owner may temporarily be away and unable to dispense the pet food at the desired feeding time. A pet owner who is away for extended periods of time may find it more desirable to use an automatic feeder at home rather than place the pet in a boarding kennel which can be expensive and stressful for the pet.
Pet food dispensers which automatically dispense food and eliminate the daily chore of pet feeding are known. These known dispensers typically include a food container connected to a food tray which dispenses the food to the pet. The container is large enough to hold multiple servings of pet food. The container and the tray facilitate the flow of pet food to the feeding area of the tray without overflow, and the container is securely mounted on the tray so that the pet does not accidentally dislodge the container while eating from the tray.
Although such dispensers are useful, at least some known dispensers require that bulk amounts of pet food be transferred to the food container. Packages of such bulk amounts of food are heavy and make the task of transferring the food difficult and awkward. It is desirable to provide pet food dispensers which employ retail pet food packaging as removable pet food containers so that bulk amounts of food do not have to be transferred.
One known pet food dispenser which employs a retail pet food package as a removable pet food container is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,572, which is assigned to the present assignee. The food package typically is purchased by the consumer at a retail outlet and used with a cooperating dispenser tray. The dispenser tray includes a rectangular container mounting portion with guide tracks or flanges extending along side members which form the mounting portion. The guide tracks or flanges are configured to cooperate with grooves in the container so that the container may be removably mounted on the dispenser tray. This dispenser eliminates the need for bulk transfer of food from a retail package to a dispenser food container, but is limited to use with food packages configured specifically for the particular dispenser tray.
It would be desirable to provide an adapter which can be used to secure commercially available, commonly purchased pet food containers for use with the dispenser tray. It would further be desirable to provide such an adapter which is simple to use and inexpensive to fabricate.